Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The NRL Integrity Unit is investigating comments made by Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga, who has publicly courted top players including Bulldogs pair Jacob Preston and Matt Burton in pursuit of a marquee star for the expansion franchise.
The NRL-owned Bears last week flew a News Corp journalist to Perth to try and get positive publicity for the club. However, the move has backfired after the Bulldogs complained to the NRL about Meninga openly courting their players, who are under contract until the end of 2027.
Meninga told News Corp the NRL-owned Bears would “be in the picture” to pursue the likes of Preston, Burton and Nathan Cleary if they hit the open market on November 1.
“There has also been a heap of noise around Matt Burton,” Meninga said. “Jacob Preston, he’s someone coming off contract after 2027, we’ll be in the picture. We will have enough money in our cap to maybe chase a Nathan or a Jake if they come onto the open market.”
Meninga’s comments have left him in an awkward position with his employer, the NRL.
The Integrity Unit is investigating the matter. The Panthers told this column they were happy to leave it with the NRL to sort out.
The Bears haven’t managed to land a marquee player for their debut season next year. However, the NRL last year introduced a strict policy about public comments from clubs around signing players, essentially an anti-tampering crackdown that prevents club officials or player agents from publicly courting players who are under contract.
Ironically, the rule was introduced because clubs had a whine about Canterbury boss Phil Gould after he declared Lachlan Galvin was “the best teenage footballer I’ve ever seen” while he was at Wests Tigers. Galvin subsequently joined the Bulldogs after a public fall-out with the Tigers.
The Bears’ public stumbles are becoming all too frequent. You won’t see officials from the NRL’s other newcomers, the Papua New Guinea Chiefs, being quoted about targeting specific players as they are more savvy in the marketplace.
If Gould had said what Meninga did, it would have been back-page news for days and the Bulldogs general manager lashed on TV panel shows. Instead, because Meninga is a Fox Sports darling and a recent employee of the network, nothing has been said.
The Bulldogs – not Gould – have expressed their dismay. Texts and emails have been sent to the NRL about what they see as breaches of the policy.
The Dogs know keeping Burton will be a challenge and have started conversations to let him know their position and what they expect from him over the next year. Preston also remains a priority.
No gag on Gus, insist Nine, V’landys
TV networks keen to land the rugby league broadcasting rights know the value of staying sweet with the NRL – but the game’s big boss, Peter V’landys, denies he is using that to silence commentators.
Rights talks have been hotting up in the background, but they were put front and centre by Phil Gould refusing to answer a question on Nine’s post-Origin analysis show about Kalyn Ponga’s sending-off.
Cryptically, Gould told host James Bracey that he didn’t want to cost him his job. It was a reference to the delicate situation around negotiations for the NRL broadcast rights, which could be worth $4 billion.
Gould, the game’s strongest voice, said little, but his silence spoke volumes. He previously walked off the 100% Footy set when asked a question by Bracey relating to the way the game was dealing with matters around officiating.
We asked the heavies at Nine, the publisher of this masthead, if Gould had been silenced. They said he hadn’t and assured us he has been given no directive about commenting on anything, but there is no question his strong views have everybody nervous.
This column asked V’landys about Gould’s silence. “We have never tried to gag anyone,” he said.
However, the feeling remains that networks are being monitored. We have previously written about the input the NRL is trying to have on the game’s magazine shows – including requesting to see program rundowns before they go to air. And V’landys has made it known to Nine that rugby league should take priority over the AFL in what they present.
He doesn’t back away from that.
“Our input is that we respect every opinion if it’s based on correct facts,” V’landys said. “We also make no apology that we want our broadcast partners to promote rugby league above other sports and accordingly we look for positivity about the game.
“Knowing Gus, I think it was more tongue-in-cheek as he has never been afraid to give his opinion. I know that first hand.”
Not about the money for Burton
There was no player on the NSW bench more invested in Wednesday night’s game than Matt Burton. And not because he has had spent plenty of time there in recent years.
Burton has earned $210,000 in his Origin career, but has only played 153 minutes. He has three Blues appearances to his name and has been 18th man five times, according to stats provided by David Middleton. NSW players get paid $30,000 per match, regardless of whether they take the field as squad members or not. Burton made his Origin debut in the 2022 series, playing two matches, when players received $15,000 per Origin.
The truth is that he would do it all for nothing. After their Blues’ great escape against the Maroons on Wednesday night, he was as happy as any player in the NSW sheds.
“I was called in late, and you get to be part of that … it’s unbelievable,” Burton said. “It’s one of the craziest 24 hours of my life. From being at training about to running out in the field with the Doggies and then obviously getting the late call-up to come into camp … it’s the best thing ever.
“To be a part of that win, it’ll go down as one of the greatest wins for NSW, and I’m just grateful to be a part of that. I’m truly grateful to wear this jersey every time you get the chance. It was a thrill to go on there at the end. I was buzzing, and I got put in the middle, so I just wanted to run hard and run straight and try and make a difference.”
Ponga mixes with fans
We saw Kalyn Ponga in full kit in Billy Slater’s coaching box during the game. What we didn’t see was that he took a wrong turn and ended up in the crowd at one point.
Imagine what punters must have thought when the Queensland No.1 bounced past them in his playing gear after he was sent off in the 57th minute.
Laurie delivers
Blues coach Laurie Daley had his selections for game one pulled apart, but his bench choices almost all paid off.
Billy Slater’s non-selection of Reece Walsh is still a head-scratcher – and it made worse by the loss of Ponga when he was marched in the 57th minute for his hit on Tolu Koula. Walsh coming off the bench to help the team in Ponga’s absence would have been ideal.
Instead, back-rower Kurt Capewell had to play out of position in the centres, and the Blues exposed him. Daley’s faith in five-eighth Ethan Strange, who was called up as a late replacement for the injured Mitchell Moses, was fully justified, while bench players Casey McLean, Cameron Murray, Blayke Brailey and Victor Radley all stood tall.
Foran set to fight for his rights
“Fozball”: It’s one of the terms of 2026, and the man for whom it was coined, Manly interim coach Kieran Foran, is now trying to make it his own. The problem is that a punter has registered it and is already selling merchandise. Expect Foran’s management group, SFX, to try and get the rights back.
Top Dog bares teeth over text
Cameron Ciraldo’s steely media conference after the Bulldogs’ win over the Storm last Friday – where he described rumours that have been circulating about the club as “bullshit” – left many in the media with their backs up.
The thought was that the Canterbury coach was referring to some of the rot discussed on hyped-up panel shows or on podcasts. But that wasn’t his main concern. Ciraldo doesn’t watch those programs.
Instead, Ciraldo was angered by a text message sent to him by a former Dragons player. The message had one made-up story after another about players like Jacob Kiraz, Burton, Galvin and others wanting out of Belmore for various reasons.
It was all wrong and based on misinformation.
The message heavily targeted Ciraldo and captain Stephen Crichton. The Dogs managed to source it back to a person who is a Dragons sponsor, and they have distanced themselves from it. It’s that kind of scuttlebutt that sends fans into a frenzy and occupies hours of a coach’s time.
Ikin, Solly out of race to be next NRL CEO
There are no names jumping out to the heavies at the Australian Rugby League Commission to replace Tennis Australia-bound chief executive Andrew Abdo, as the move towards Peter V’landys assuming an executive chairman role starts to rumble along.
Of the names floated publicly as potential contenders, Queensland Rugby League boss Ben Ikin and South Sydney CEO Blake Solly have distanced themselves from the role. From what we can gather, there is not a lot of love for former Seven Network boss and recently departed Supercars chief executive, James Warburton. It means the obvious play is for V’landys to become executive chairman.
The stumbling block is that almost universal support is needed to change the ARLC constitution. V’landys has widespread support from the clubs, who are better funded now than at any other time. But there will be one or two club bosses who could be difficult to convince.
The states are another obstacle, but it appears some of those relationships have improved.
The notion that V’landys and Abdo were fighting or had a bad relationship is not right. Yes, V’landys is demanding – at times too demanding – and can ask a lot of those around him in terms of hours and tasks, but there appears to be a genuine friendship between the chairman and his CEO.
I saw that first hand on the recent Kangaroos tour of England, where the pair would get up at the crack of dawn and train together in a dingy hotel gym in London. They would arrive at the same time to do weights before Abdo would hop onto the treadmill and V’landys would get on a different machine to get an aerobic workout. The 6am gym sessions were not part of Abdo’s job description.
From what we can gather, V’landys was the man who talked Abdo through his move to the Tennis Australia job. When the post first became available a few weeks ago, he told Abdo, “They will come after you for this position”. Abdo took it the wrong way and asked, “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
The truth is V’landys knew Abdo’s worth and also knew he’d be good for Tennis Australia. He is hard-working, diligent and well presented.
The NRL is proving to be quite the breeding ground for national sports CEOs, with former NRL chief Todd Greenberg now running Cricket Australia – not that V’landys would sing his praises like he does Abdo’s.
Abdo kept his chairman informed throughout the discussions with TA and delivered the news he was leaving in a phone call to V’landys in his Racing NSW office last Friday.
V’landys is not everybody’s cup of tea but everything he has touched in a commercial sense has been a success. Consider this: how would you like it if he was leading a sport in competition with rugby league?
He would never do it. The NRL chief executive job pays about $1.7 million a year, which is great coin but not too different from what he earns as Racing NSW CEO and ARLC chairman.
Why the delay over Foran’s Manly deal?
Negotiations over Kieran Foran’s head coaching contract at Manly have dragged on longer than anticipated – and for a club that embarrassed itself by botching contract negotiations with Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic, it’s always a watch for the media.
Fortunately, they have a strong and competent chief executive in Jason King, so expect the deal to happen. Manly can’t afford to botch this. King looks smart for moving ex-coach Anthony Seibold on after three losses. Foran is looking at a three-year extension as head coach from next season worth about $550,000. That seems a little light and may be a reason for the longer-than-expected negotiation.
Foran should be on $600,000 for next year with gradual increases to get him about $750,000. Chuck in some bonuses and that would be a fair deal. But we are not writing the cheques and Manly owners the Penn family have had a long-held reputation for not-over spending on their football team.
Nor will there be a revolution when it comes to Foran’s staff, and he will be reluctant to change what is working.
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